China's Pacific Policy at the Turn of the Millennium
Abstract
China's growth as an economic and military power, and its increasing significance in the region around the Yellow Sea and the South China Sea, have created security concerns in many countries. This thesis examines the validity of these concerns using a theoretical framework developed by Barry Buzan. Buzan, professor of international studies at the University of Warwick, recommends a broadening of the security concept both horizontally and vertically. On the horizontal axis, security is seen as dependent on political democracy and a culture of human rights, social and economic development, environmental sustainability, and military stability. In this regard Buzan identifies five dimensions of security -- political, societal, economic, environmental, and military -- that serve as analytical tools. The environmental sector, in particular, is about relationships between human activity and the planetary biosphere. The vertical hierarchy of analytical levels (individual, state, regional, international) is an enabler to see how the referent objects of security have evolved to include both state and nonstate players. State or national security is redefined to encompass human security. This thesis reveals which factors on Buzan's horizontal and vertical axes have influenced Chinese security policy over the past 15 years. Buzan's work has been chosen since he is internationally recognized for looking to a new field of international security studies as a necessary framework for understanding the politics of the post-Cold War international system. Buzan's five dimensions are used to discuss whether or not China currently is performing as if she is a player in a mature anarchy, a structure in which benefits of fragmentation can be enjoyed without the costs of continuous armed struggle and instability; or if she conducts security policy as if she belongs in an immature anarchy, defined as one in which units are held together by a force of elite leadership.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 17, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA437640
Entities
People
- Claus A. Wammen
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College